Image capture accelerator

ABSTRACT

An image capture accelerator performs accelerated processing of image data. In one embodiment, the image capture accelerator includes accelerator circuitry including a pre-processing engine and a compression engine. The pre-processing engine is configured to perform accelerated processing on received image data, and the compression engine is configured to compress processed image data received from the pre-processing engine. In one embodiment, the image capture accelerator further includes a demultiplexer configured to receive image data captured by an image sensor array implemented within, for example, an image sensor chip. The demultiplexer may output the received image data to an image signal processor when the image data is captured by the image sensor array in a standard capture mode, and may output the received image data to the accelerator circuitry when the image data is captured by the image sensor array in an accelerated capture mode.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/671,068, filed Jul. 12, 2012, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

1. Field of Art

The disclosure generally relates to the field of image capture systems, and in particular to accelerating image capture.

2. Description of the Related Art

As image sensor technology improves, image sensors are becoming able to capture images and videos at increasingly higher resolutions and frame rates. However, Image Signal Processing (ISP) ASICs often suffer from bandwidth limitations preventing them from effectively processing image sensor frames at the spatial, temporal, and bit-depth resolutions and frame rates at which they are captured. In digital camera systems, such ISP bottlenecks can hinder camera capability. Furthermore, even if an ISP has the capability to keep up with an associated image sensor, the ISP may use more power than a typical camera battery can provide.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The disclosed embodiments have other advantages and features which will be more readily apparent from the detailed description, the appended claims, and the accompanying figures (or drawings). A brief introduction of the figures is below.

FIG. 1 illustrates one embodiment of a system for image capture acceleration.

FIG. 2 illustrates an alternative embodiment of the system for image capture acceleration.

FIG. 3 illustrates an alternative embodiment of the system for image capture acceleration.

FIG. 4 illustrates one embodiment of an image signal processor (ISP) configured to process image data in an accelerated manner via firmware, without the need for a dedicated image capture accelerator (ICA).

FIG. 5 illustrates an example reordering of a Bayer color array to a YUV 4:2:2 format.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The Figures (FIGS.) and the following description relate to preferred embodiments by way of illustration only. It should be noted that from the following discussion, alternative embodiments of the structures and methods disclosed herein will be readily recognized as viable alternatives that may be employed without departing from the principles of what is claimed.

Reference will now be made in detail to several embodiments, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying figures. It is noted that wherever practicable similar or like reference numbers may be used in the figures and may indicate similar or like functionality. The figures depict embodiments of the disclosed system (or method) for purposes of illustration only. One skilled in the art will readily recognize from the following description that alternative embodiments of the structures and methods illustrated herein may be employed without departing from the principles described herein.

Configuration Overview

In one example embodiment, an image capture system architecture is configured to incorporate an image capture accelerator (ICA). The ICA is configured to address limited ISP bandwidths and/or excessive system power usage while enabling the capture of images at high frame rates. In one example embodiment, the ICA is a device that sidesteps traditional ISP image processing in an image capture system (such as a digital camera) in order to increase the bandwidth and/or decrease the power use of the image capture system. The ICA can be a dedicated ASIC, can be implemented within an image sensor or ISP chip architecture, or can be implemented using existing hardware, firmware, and/or software.

An image capture accelerator provides for the accelerated processing of image data.

In one embodiment, an image capture accelerator includes accelerator circuitry including a pre-processing engine and a compression engine. The pre-processing engine is configured to perform accelerated processing on received image data, and the compression engine is configured to compress processed image data received from the pre-processing engine. In one embodiment, the image capture accelerator further includes a demultiplexer configured to receive image data captured by an image sensor array, for example on an image sensor chip. The demultiplexer outputs the received image data to an image signal processor (ISP) when the image data is captured by the image sensor array in a first capture mode (“standard mode”), and outputs the received image data to the accelerator circuitry when the image data is captured by the image sensor array in a second capture mode (“accelerated mode”). It should be noted that the ICA may process captured image data in additional modes as understood to those of skill in the art, such as a time lapse mode.

In one embodiment, the standard capture mode is associated with the capture of images at a first frame rate and first resolution, and the accelerated capture mode is associated with the capture of images at a second frame rate and second resolution. In some embodiments, the first frame rate is lower than the second frame rate, and/or the first resolution is lower than the second resolution. Accordingly, when the capture of frames is desired at a higher resolution and/or frame rate than the ISP can accommodate, the ICA can operate in the accelerated mode, and the demultiplexer can output captured image data to the accelerator circuitry.

Image data processed by and output from an ICA may not be in a standard image format, but rather may be in a format requiring further decoding (for instance, to decode coding performed by the ICA) and/or processing (for instance, to format the image data into a standard image format, such as JPEG or PNG). This post-processing can occur within the camera (for instance, subsequent to the capture of the image data) or outside of the digital camera system (for instance, offline in a computer or a mobile device). Further, the image capture system architecture described herein can include additional components configured to receive and process the image data output from the ICA. In one example embodiment, the ICA can capture and process image data in an accelerated mode, can store the processed image data, and can post-process the stored image data into a viewable image format at a later time.

Example Image Capture Acceleration System

Turning now to Figure (FIG. 1, it illustrates a system 100 for image capture acceleration including a sensor array 110, an ICA 120, and an ISP 130. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the ICA 120 is coupled to the sensor array 110 and the ISP 130. A communication bus 142 couples the sensor array 110 to the ICA 120, and a second communication bus 144 couples the ICA 120 to the ISP 130. In this embodiment and others, the communication buses 142, 144 are selected based on the bandwidth requirements of the image capture system 100. For example, the bus 142 may be implemented such that the bus 142 does not inhibit image data transfer or otherwise act as a bottleneck for the image capture system 100.

The sensor array 110 is configured to capture image data and output the image data to a processor, such as the ICA 120 or the ISP 130. In one embodiment, the sensor array 110 is a Bayer color filter array, and the sensor array 110 outputs raw Bayer pattern data. Other types of image sensors may also be used in the accelerated image capture system 100. The sensor array 110 may be configured to capture image data at one or more frame rates and one or more resolutions, for example as specified by a user, under the control of a camera processor (not shown) or the ISP 130. Although not shown in FIG. 1, the sensor array 110 can be implemented within an image sensor chip, for instance a charge-coupled device (“CCD”) or complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (“CMOS”), configured to convert captured light incident upon the image sensor chip into electrical signals representing the captured light (“image data” herein).

The ISP 130 processes raw image data received from the sensor array 110 and generates processed image data for output to a display screen, memory, or external computing device. In one embodiment, the ISP 130 performs processing steps including clean Bayer processing, demosaicing, etc., as well as compression to format the raw image data for output. In various embodiments, the ISP 130 may be configured to process the image data to generate image or video files in standard formats, such as JPEG, PNG, TIFF, AVI, or MPEG.

The ICA 120 intercepts image data captured by the sensor array 110 before it is output to the ISP 130. In one embodiment, the ICA 120 is configured to process the image data in response to a user request to accelerate image processing. In another embodiment, the ICA 120 is configured to automatically provide the image data to the ISP 130 when the image sensor captures images in a standard capture mode (for instance, at a low frame rate and/or resolution) and to process the received image data when the image sensor captures images in an accelerated capture mode (for instance, at a higher frame rate and/or resolution). For example, the ICA 120 may send image data to the ISP 130 when the image data is captured at 120 frames per second (fps) and 1080p resolution, while the ICA 120 may process image data (by accelerated processing) when the image data is captured at 240 fps and 4K resolution.

The standard and accelerated capture modes may be defined relative to thresholds. Specifically, the accelerated capture mode can be implemented when capturing image data at an above-threshold frame rate or an above-threshold resolution. In such instances, the thresholds can be low enough to guarantee that image data captured below the threshold frame rate and/or resolution can be processed by the ISP 130. For example, the thresholds may be selected such that a low-end ISP can process the image data captured in the standard capture mode. This allows potential cost savings to be realized by allowing a less expensive ISP to be implemented in the image capture system. Moreover, potential power savings may be realized by using the ICA 120, rather than the ISP 130, for higher-power image processing circumstances.

It should be noted that in one embodiment, when the image sensor captures images in the first mode, the ICA 120 can process the received image data (instead of the ISP 130). For example, in addition to processing image data captured at above-threshold frame rates and resolutions, the ICA 120 may process image data captured at low frame rates and low resolutions (e.g., for previewing images), low frame rates and high resolutions (e.g., for time lapse photography), and high frame rate and low resolution (e.g., for low-bandwidth streaming). Image data may alternatively be processed in parallel by the ICA 120 and ISP 130. Furthermore, when the ICA 120 processes image data, the ISP 130 can remain idle, or can simultaneously process downscaled and/or frame rate-lowered image data (for instance, image data received from the ICA 120), allowing the ISP 130 to keep up with the pace of captured image data while minimizing power consumption. For example, images at 4K resolution captured at 60 fps by the image sensor may be processed by the ICA 120. At the same time, these images can be downscaled (e.g., to a WVGA resolution) at 30 fps (either by the ICA 120 or the ISP 130) and processed by the ISP 130. Such an embodiment allows the image data processed by the ISP 130 to be used for previewing images processed at full resolution and frame rate by the ICA 120, to be stored at the downscaled resolutions and frame rates, to be streamed via WiFi or other low-bandwidth streaming, and the like.

The sensor array 110 may communicate a preferred processing mode (for instance, processing with either the ICA 120 in accelerated capture mode or the ISP 130 in standard capture mode) via the communication bus 142. Alternatively, the ICA 120 may receive information from the camera controller requesting a capture mode, and can determine whether to send the image data to the ISP 130 for processing or to process the image data with the accelerator circuitry of the ICA 120 in response. In one embodiment, a camera controller provides an instruction to operate in standard mode or accelerated mode, and the ICA 120 configures the demultiplexer 121 in response.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1, the ICA 120 includes a demultiplexer (“demux”) 121, a clean Bayer processing module 122, a pre-processing engine 123, a compression engine 124, and one or more output interfaces 125. In other embodiments, the ICA 120 may include fewer, additional, or different components than those described herein, such as one or more CPU cores and memories (which may be configured to function as an ISP in all or certain circumstances), one or more high dynamic range pre-processors, encryption engines, metadata embedding modules, linearization lookup tables, and the like.

The demux 121 is configured to receive image data captured by the sensor array 110 and output the image data to the ISP 130 for processing or output the image data to accelerator circuitry within the ICA 120 for processing. In one embodiment, the demux 121 is an analog demux to reduce power consumption of the ICA 120. In one embodiment the demux 121 outputs the image data to the ISP 130 for processing during image capture at frame rates and/or resolutions that do not require accelerated image processing or large amounts of processing power. The demux 121 can output image data to the accelerator circuitry of the ICA 120 during high frame rate or high resolution image capture modes, or during any other time (for example, during other processing-intensive capture modes, when selected by the user, and the like). In one embodiment, the sensor array 110 controls the control lines of the demux 121, for instance by communicating a control signal based on a desired capture mode. Alternatively, the sensor array 110 can communicate various information useful in making image data processing decisions to the demux 121, such as the frame rate and resolution of image capture, and the demux 121 or ICA 120 can output image data to the ISP 130 or process it at the ICA 120 based on the received information. It should be noted that in some embodiments, the demux 121 may be external to the ICA 120.

The accelerator circuitry of the embodiment of the ICA 120 illustrated in FIG. 1 includes the clean Bayer processing module 122, the pre-processing engine 123, the compression engine 124, and the output interface 125. In one embodiment, the clean Bayer processing module 122 is configured to perform Bayer processing on image data, such as repairing defective pixels, correcting color and luminance, and repairing other capture errors. The pre-processing engine 123 may perform one or more image processing operations on the image data including demosaicing operations, noise reduction operations, image sharpening operations, resolution adjustment, color correction and/or color space conversion, brightness adjustment, pixel formatting operations, quantization, iHDR parsing or other forms of parsing, and the like. In some embodiments, the pre-processing engine 123 performs only minimal processing operations, and does not perform processing operations that require over a threshold amount of time and/or consume over a threshold amount of power. The compression engine 124 is configured to compress the image data by lossy or lossless compression into a compressed data format of equal or smaller size than the original image data. For example, the compression engine 124 may compresses the processed image data using a wavelet compression algorithm, such as VC-5 or CINEFORM™. An advantage of using a wavelet compression algorithm is the generation of downscaled images, which in one embodiment may be output by the compression engine 124 to the ISP 130 or to a display screen of a camera (e.g., for a user to preview the images).

The one or more output interfaces 125 may output the processed image data to a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium (e.g., flash memory or disk), or can output the processed image data to another component (such as a processor) for storage, subsequent processing, and/or formatting. In one embodiment, the output interface(s) 125 include a physical layer interface coupled to a storage medium, processor, or other component.

In one embodiment, the output image data can be processed via a standard image processing pipeline to format the image data into a standard image or video format (such as the JPEG format, the PNG format, or the MPEG format). This image processing pipeline can be located external to the camera, such as in a computer or other mobile device. By locating the standard image processing pipeline on a device external to the camera, a higher level of image processing quality can be achieved by the external device, provided the external device has greater processing and power resources than the camera and/or is under less restrictive time constraints. Further, by having the external device perform the standard image processing, processing and power load savings can be realized by the camera.

As shown in FIG. 1, the ICA 120 is a dedicated IC external to the sensor array 110 and the ISP 130. However, in other embodiments, the ICA 120 and one or more of the sensor array 110 and the ISP 130 may be implemented as a single component. For example, FIG. 2 illustrates an image sensor chip 200 including the sensor array 110 and the ICA 120, which outputs image data to the ISP 130 or another external device, such as a memory internal or external to the camera, or an external processor. Similarly, the ISP 130 may output processed image data to an internal or external memory, another processor, or the like. FIG. 3 illustrates an image processing chip 300 including the ICA 120 and ISP 130. The image processing chip 300 receives raw image data from the sensor array 110 and outputs processed image data to, for example, a memory internal or external to the camera. It should be noted that the components of the ICA 120 described with respect to FIG. 1 can be implemented within the other embodiments described herein; for example, the embodiments of FIGS. 2 and 3 may include one or more of the demux 121, clean Bayer processing module 122, pre-processing engine 123, compression engine 125, and output interface 125 in the processing path.

Referring now to FIG. 4, illustrated is an embodiment of an ISP 410 configured to process image data in an accelerated manner via firmware, without the need for a dedicated ICA. The ISP 410 receives captured image data from the image sensor chip 405, processes the received data, and outputs processed image data to the memory 420. In the embodiment of FIG. 4, the ISP 410 can process image data normally in a standard mode (for instance, when the received image data is captured at a frame rate and resolution that do not require accelerated image processing), and can process image data in an accelerated mode (for instance, when accelerated image data processing is required or requested). Alternatively, the ISP 410 can process image data in the accelerated mode regardless of the mode in which the image data was captured.

In one embodiment, the ISP 410 processes image data by implementing one or more of the following steps: 1) performing clean Bayer processing 412, 2) bypassing demosaic processing 413, 3) performing bit depth conversion 414, 4) performing color space conversion 415, and 5) performing image data encoding 416. Each of the operations 412 through 416 can be implemented by dedicated standalone modules, by general processing modules, by hardware, or any other suitable module. The clean Bayer processing operation 412 may include similar functions as those performed by the clean Bayer processing module 122 described with respect to FIG. 1, and in one embodiment may be performed by the clean Bayer processing module 122.

In the standard processing mode, the ISP 410 may perform demosaicing operations on the image data to convert the image data to a standard format. However, in an accelerated processing mode, after clean Bayer processing 412 is performed on the image data received from the image sensor chip 405, standard demosaic processing is bypassed 413 in order to keep the image data in the Bayer color space or native sensor color space. Bypassing 413 the standard demosaic processing may improve the image processing performance of the ISP 410, as the demosaicing step may increase the amount of data processed during subsequent steps. Additional pre-processing operations can also be bypassed, for instance noise reduction and image sharpening operations.

After bypassing 413 various pre-processing operations, the ISP 410 (operating in an accelerated mode) can use look-up tables (LUTs) to perform bit-depth conversion 414. Any suitable LUT can be used to convert 414 the bit-depth of the image data, such as a linear or non-linear domain LUT, a log LUT, a tone/gamma LUT, and the like.

The ISP 410 can then perform color space conversion 415 to convert the image data into the format of the YUV color space. In one embodiment, the image data is converted into the YUV space using a 4:2:2 ratio, which indicates that image data brightness information is stored at twice the resolution of U-component and V-component image data color information, though other YUV ratios can be used as well (such as a 4:1:1 ratio, a 4:4:4 ratio, and the like).

In one embodiment, to perform color space conversion 415, the ISP 410 swizzles the image data (by re-arranging vector entries for the image data) into the YUV color space. Specifically, the ISP 410 may reorder pixel bits of the image data from the Bayer color space into the YUV color space. Swizzling, or reordering, image data into the YUV space can involve mapping the Y component of the YUV domain to the G Bayer component of the image data, mapping the U component of the YUV domain to the B Bayer component of the image data, and mapping the V component of the YUV domain to the R Bayer component of the image data. For example, FIG. 5 illustrates an example conversion of a Bayer color array 502 to a YUV 4:2:2 format 504. The Bayer color array 502 comprises a red subpixel R, a blue subpixel B, and two green subpixels G_(R) and G_(B). The ISP 410 reorders the pixel bits to form the vector [R G_(R) B G_(B)] in the YUV 4:2:2 format 504. Alternatively, the ISP 410 may apply a color space transformation to map the Bayer color array to the YUV domain. It should be noted that other forms of swizzling may be performed than those described herein, and the image data may be converted to a color space other than the Bayer color space or the YUV color space.

The ISP 410 encodes 416 the YUV image data using, for example, H.264 or H.265 encoding or any other suitable coding algorithm. The encoded YUV image data may then be output by the ISP 410 for storage by the memory 420. In one embodiment, the memory 420 is a local storage (e.g., an in-camera memory). In another embodiment, the memory 420 is an external memory (e.g., a memory in a computer external to the camera). In the latter embodiment, a compression engine can encode the image data for transmission to the external memory, for example by encoding the YUV image data in the HDMI format and outputting the encoded data in the HDMI output.

The stored encoded YUV image data may be post-processed to undo the YUV-swizzling. After decoding and decompressing the stored encoded YUV image data, the image data can be processed via a standard image processing pipeline to format the image data into a standard image or video format for storage or display. Similar to the embodiment described with respect to FIG. 1, the image processing pipeline for undoing the YUV-swizzling can be located external to the camera, such as in a computer or other mobile device, to achieve a higher level of image processing quality and to reduce processing and power loads of the camera. It should be noted that using the methods of the embodiment of FIG. 4, the effective image processing rate can be twice or more than the standard ISP processing rate, and the amount of power used in image processing may be decreased.

Additional Configuration Considerations

The embodiments described herein provide systems and methods for accelerating image capture and storage in an image capture system. By accelerating image capture and storage, the image capture systems can capture images or videos at high frame rates and resolutions because the image capture systems are not limited by the capabilities of image signal processors. Moreover, accelerated capturing and storing may reduce power consumption of image capture systems, improving battery life of cameras including the accelerated image capture systems.

Throughout this specification, some embodiments have used the expression “coupled” along with its derivatives. The term “coupled” as used herein is not necessarily limited to two or more elements being in direct physical or electrical contact. Rather, the term “coupled” may also encompass two or more elements are not in direct contact with each other, but yet still co-operate or interact with each other, or are structured to provide a thermal conduction path between the elements.

Likewise, as used herein, the terms “comprises,” “including,” “includes,” “including,” “has,” “having” or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion. For example, a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements is not necessarily limited to only those elements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus.

In addition, use of the “a” or “an” are employed to describe elements and components of the embodiments herein. This is done merely for convenience and to give a general sense of the invention. This description should be read to include one or at least one and the singular also includes the plural unless it is obvious that it is meant otherwise.

Finally, as used herein any reference to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” means that a particular element, feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment. The appearances of the phrase “in one embodiment” in various places in the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment.

Upon reading this disclosure, those of skill in the art will appreciate still additional alternative structural and functional designs for a camera expansion module as disclosed from the principles herein. Thus, while particular embodiments and applications have been illustrated and described, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are not limited to the precise construction and components disclosed herein. Various modifications, changes and variations, which will be apparent to those skilled in the art, may be made in the arrangement, operation and details of the method and apparatus disclosed herein without departing from the spirit and scope defined in the appended claims. 

What is claimed is:
 1. An image capture accelerator, comprising: accelerator circuitry comprising: a pre-processing engine configured to perform accelerated processing on received image data, and a compression engine configured to compress processed image data received from the pre-processing engine; a demultiplexer configured to receive image data captured by an image sensor array, the demultiplexer configured to output the received image data to an image signal processor (“ISP”) when the image data is captured by the image sensor array in a first capture mode, and configured to output the received image data to the accelerator circuitry when the image data is captured by the image sensor array in a second capture mode, the demultiplexer further configured to receive information from the image sensor array identifying whether the image sensor array captures image data in the first capture mode or the second capture mode; and an output interface configured to output the compressed image data.
 2. The image capture accelerator of claim 1, wherein the pre-processing engine is configured to perform one or more of the following processing operations: clean Bayer processing, noise reduction, tone mapping, and image data parsing.
 3. The image capture accelerator of claim 1, wherein the first capture mode is associated with the capture of images at a first frame rate and first resolution, wherein the second capture mode is associated with the capture of images at a second frame rate and second resolution, and wherein the first frame rate is lower than the second frame rate and/or the first resolution is lower than the second resolution.
 4. The image capture accelerator of claim 1, wherein the output interface comprises a physical layer interface, wherein the physical layer interface is coupled to a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium external to the image capture accelerator, and wherein the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium is configured to store received compressed image data.
 5. The image capture accelerator of claim 1, wherein the image capture accelerator is implemented within a camera, the camera comprising an image sensor chipset and an ISP chipset.
 6. The image capture accelerator of claim 5, wherein the image capture accelerator is implemented within a dedicated chipset external to the image sensor chipset and the ISP chipset, and is communicatively coupled to the image sensor chipset and the ISP chipset.
 7. The image capture accelerator of claim 5, wherein the camera further includes a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium for storing compressed image data from the image capture accelerator.
 8. A method for image capture acceleration, comprising: receiving, at a demultiplexer, image data captured by an image sensor array; receiving, at the demultiplexer, information from the image sensor array identifying whether the image sensor array captures image data in a first capture mode or a second capture mode; responsive to the image data being captured by the image sensor array operating in the first capture mode, outputting the received image data to an image signal processor; and responsive to the image data being captured by the image sensor array operating in the second capture mode: performing pre-processing on the image data, compressing the pre-processed image data, and outputting the compressed image data via an output interface.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein performing pre-processing on the image data comprises performing one or more of the following processing operations: clean Bayer processing, noise reduction, tone mapping, and image data parsing.
 10. The method of claim 8, wherein the first capture mode is associated with the capture of images at a first frame rate and first resolution, wherein the second capture mode is associated with the capture of images at a second frame rate and second resolution, and wherein the first frame rate is lower than the second frame rate and/or the first resolution is lower than the second resolution.
 11. The method of claim 10, further comprising: receiving a frame rate and resolution at which the image sensor array captured the image data; and determining whether the image data was captured by the image sensor array operating in the first capture mode or the second capture mode based on the received frame rate and resolution. 